The rapid increase in the sales of numbers of tablets has got people speculating on the possibility of the post PC era. Despite these rumors, there is one HP employee who begs to differ. Executive Vice President of the printing and personal systems group, Todd Bradley, dismissed these recent rumours as baseless and nonsense. Citing a simple example on the requirements of a student in college or the need of productive growth in a business, he asserted that only a PC would be able to fulfil such tasks. He further criticized such rumors as being dramatic and a diversion.
However, statistics don’t exactly back Bradley’s assertions. The second quarter saw HP lose 13% in PC shipments and competitor Dell wasn’t among the profits either, posting a 10% loss. Glen Yeung, an analyst at Citigroup reported that the third quarter could be the worst of quarters for the PC industry. Yeung, asserted that looking at the supply chain over August, the only logical conclusion that one can deduce is, “the outlook is pretty much dire and the worst is yet to come”.
The tablet shipments on the other hand have been on the rise in the same time frame. Popular research firm IDC updated its expectations of tablet sales from its initial estimate of 107 million units to 117 million units for the year. Analysts claim that a total of 70.9 million units were shipped around the world last year. Despite these estimates, IDC’s analysts are in denial of the emergence of a post-PC era. IDC’s Vice President Bob O’Donnell for clients and displays stated that consumers are still in the pro-PC era, as owning a PC is still a first priority for many. According to him, tablets occupy a unique position in the market and aren’t a replacement to PCs in the near future. Hewlett Packard’s Bradley is of a similar opinion as well. He doesn’t dismiss the importance of tablets himself. However, the importance of a Personal Computer clearly outweighs that of a tablet in the current lifestyle.
The role for a tablet is yet to reach its potential and that isn’t something that would replace the PC overnight. Analysts believe this is a slow process and will its time to shape up. The PC is clearly unique and lack of innovation is the primary reason for the depreciating sales. The emergence of ultrabooks should help in curbing the existent problem of abysmal sales numbers.
